Possessed
by Dani Pink Cloud
Summary: Castle and Beckett come across what is possibly their strangest case yet. But soon Castle is completely wrapped up in the case, and Beckett is his last chance . . .
1. Chapter 1

**I was struck randomly with inspiration for this story, and it is definitely an . . . unexpected type of story, but I'm excited about it, and you should be too. It will be filled with strange murders, plot twists, and high-running emotions. It even has a bit of a _The Shining _by Stephen King element. I just hope you all like it as much as I do. :)**

**Disclaimer: As said by ThePossibilityOfMagic, I don't own Castle...but I'm pretty sure Castle owns me.**

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In a beautiful home in the Hamptons with a gorgeous view of the sea and the ocean breeze blowing through the open, spacious rooms, a man lay dead in a pool of blood, surrounded by broken glass and scattered dust.

Detective Kate Beckett and author Richard Castle walked into the crime scene, the latter peering around curiously and the former asking the ME, "What happened here?"

"You always get the weird ones, Kate," Lanie sighed, shaking her head.

"Yeah, well, I like a challenge. So do we know what happened to this guy?"

"I think so, but I'll have to get him back to the lab to be sure about the time of death and order of events. But what I do know is that he's got blunt force trauma in the head, which probably killed him." Lanie showed Beckett the marks on the man's head, both on the back and the temples. "But then there are these gunshot wounds." The medical examiner turned over the body to show the detective, and that was when Beckett saw their vic's face.

Beckett gasped. "Do we have an ID on this guy?" she managed to get out.

"Not yet," Lanie said apologetically.

"Because . . . I think this is Castle's dad."

Lanie stared at her blankly, and she could feel Esposito's and Ryan's eyes on her. From across the room, Castle called, "I heard that!" He sauntered over. "Clearly you're wrong though. I don't know my dad." He snorted. "I don't know if my _mom _even knows my dad."

"So you can't give us an ID on this man?" Beckett stepped aside to allow her quasi-partner to see their vic.

Castle, for the first time in a while, was speechless.

The man was an older version of Rick Castle. His haircut was different and graying, and he had a snowy beard complete with white mustache. But underneath the hair, the face was literally identical in structure. Added to the blood smeared across his face and into his beard, the man's general look was . . . creepy, really.

Castle and Beckett both shuddered. For both of them, the idea of a dead Castle was horrifying, unthinkable.

Castle shook his head sharply. "No. No, I don't know him."

Lanie eyed him, then nodded. "Okay. I believe you."

"Same," Esposito added. "We'll go figure out who this really is." He and Ryan left in search of identification.

"Lanie? Murder weapon?" Beckett asked, suddenly all business.

"Oh, yeah. Well, the gunshot wounds are from a 9mm, judging from the size of them. "'Course, I can't be sure if that was the murder weapon . . ." she trailed off.

"What was he hit in the head with?" Castle winced openly at Beckett's grammar, but let it go.

"That's the weird thing . . . I think it was a _pepper shaker_. Weird, right? Can I _please_ just get him back to the lab though? I'm dying to figure out what really happened," Lanie begged.

"Kind of morbid," Castle muttered.

"And who's the murder novelist here?" Lanie snapped.

"At least I don't hang out with corpses all day," Castle teased.

"I am paid to hang out with corpses all day, thank you very much." Lanie redirected her attention to Beckett. "Time of death, like I said, is uncertain, but I'm guessing sometime last night between five and eight."

"Thanks, Lanie. You can take your new best friend now, as long as CSU is done," Beckett smirked.

Lanie made a face at Castle and Beckett and stalked off to check with CSU, muttering about being mocked and underappreciated.

Beckett stared down at the body for a moment, her face unreadable, and then shook her head. "That's so creepy."

"Tell me about it," Castle muttered. "I feel like that's me in twenty years."

Snorting, Beckett said, "Except you won't be murdered."

"You'd be surprised . . . Do you realize how many death threats from fans I got after I killed off Derek Storm?" Castle joked.

Beckett laughed with him, but to her, death was no joke. "Don't worry, Castle," she offered casually. "I won't let you get killed."

"Aw, thanks, Beckett," Castle said, beaming. "You're starting to actually like me now, aren't you?" He poked her in the arm teasingly.

His voice was joking, but just in case, she added sweetly, "Nah. I'm saving your death for myself."

She would never let him catch on to her real feelings. Not until she was ready.

"So much for partner-ly love," Castle muttered. "Oh well, I guess I already knew that." He followed Beckett as she moved around the body, examining but not touching the glass around the older Castle. He watched as she straightened up and looked around the apartment.

Grabbing a random uniform's arm, Beckett asked, "Did our vic live here?"

Before the uniform could answer, Castle made a weird sound behind her. "Pssh! No."

"How do you know?"

He cocked his head, a confused look on his face. "You don't know? Beckett . . . this is _my_ place."

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**Thanks for reading and venturing into a strange world of Castle fanfiction! Please, please, please review! I cherish reviews with all my heart. And if you've got any ideas to throw out there for me, I'm always open. :)**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: So this is kind of a filler chapter, but I hope you enjoy it anyway. I tried to get some good Caskett-y stuff in. :)**

**Disclaimer: Nope, I still don't own Castle. **

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"So, you didn't feel like that was important to tell me?" Beckett asked angrily for possibly the kajillionth time. Castle felt like that was probably in the general ballpark, anyway.

"I told you, I thought you knew!" he snapped, his eyes following Beckett as she paced in front of the murder board back at the precinct. He was sitting obediently in his chair, where Beckett had ordered him.

Beckett sighed. Again. "You're sure there's no explanation for this?" She finally sat down on the edge of her desk, the only light left on in the precinct at this hour.

"There's always an explanation. I just don't know it," Castle answered honestly.

Beckett smirked, "No outlandish theories?"

"Meh. I'm too tired," Castle yawned.

Only then did it occur to Beckett that she was tired, too. She'd learned to tune out the messages her worn-out body tried to send her. Food? Coffee was a great substitute. Sleep? Overrated, especially when you had an unlimited supply of coffee at your disposal. "It's late," she said, turning to Castle. "You don't have to be here."

Castle snorted. "Some guy who looks just like me showed up dead in my house in the Hamptons. I think I'll stay. Besides, I don't want you to be alone."

Something stretched between the two of them on that last sentence that neither was sure they understood, something greater than either of them. All they knew was that it was deep, and neither was quite ready to dive in.

Beckett was the one to break eye contact, turning to look at the murder board. "Thanks, Castle," she said simply.

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In the morning, Beckett woke up on the couch in the break room to the sound of keys jangling in the lock. She stood up quickly, trying to neaten herself so that she didn't look too rumpled and like she'd slept on a couch at work overnight.

"Castle?" she asked when she saw him, confused. "How'd you get in here?" Even she didn't have a key of her own.

"I know people who know people," he said mysteriously, wagging his eyebrows at her. When she raised one eyebrow back, he admitted, "I asked maintenance. They recognized me and let me in."

"Ah." Beckett nodded. She glanced at her father's watch, and then her gaze shot back to Castle. "It's five a.m.!"

"Yeah, I'm wondering why I'm awake too," Castle muttered. "Hey, look! What a great coffee machine you have here! Must be from some generous benefactor. He's probably ruggedly handsome, too," he smirked, helping himself to the coffee.

"Make me some, too, will you?" Beckett asked.

"What else do I spend my days doing?"

Beckett rolled her eyes. She sat down on the couch again, remembering all the power naps she'd snagged on it . . . but not remembering coming to it the night before. "How did I get here? Did you . . . you didn't _carry _me?"

Castle shrugged. "To the best of my ability. You were conked out; I'm amazed you didn't wake up."

Beckett blushed furiously. She could imagine the scene: the two of them sitting at the murder board, dozing off, herself falling fully asleep with her head on Castle's shoulder. Castle lifting her up gently and carrying her over to the couch like a child. Castle leaving her with a final whisper: "Until tomorrow."

She mentally slapped herself. _Kate Beckett, a romantic? I never . . ._

"Yeah. Weird," she finally said.

Castle sat down beside Beckett with two coffees in his hands. She snatched one eagerly and started chugging it, ignoring the burning in her mouth. She needed to get some caffeine in her system. Addiction? Definitely.

When Beckett finally came up for air, she asked, "Seriously, why did you come back this morning? And so early, too? Even Montgomery won't be here for at least an hour and a half."

"I dunno. Seemed like a good idea at the time." Castle chugged more coffee, and Beckett followed suit. A few moments later, he added, "I thought you would be embarrassed if everyone walked in and found you lying on the couch. Including the Captain."

Beckett laughed. "Yeah, I guess so. But instead I get _you_ as my morning wake up call."

"Come on, Beckett, we're friends. You don't have to be embarrassed around me," Castle pointed out.

Beckett smiled – that was one of the nicest things she'd ever heard him say – then went back to her coffee, finishing it off.

"So what are you gonna do? Go home?"

"Nah. There's no one – I mean nothing – there that I need. I always keep a spare set of clothes in my locker here. Just in case," Beckett explained.

Both of them caught her first words though. They both knew Josh wouldn't be there. Funny thing was, Castle _was _there. Always.

"Well . . . I guess you'd better get ready," Castle said awkwardly.

"I guess you'd better get out of here before you get caught and kicked out," Beckett joked.

"No, me and the Captain are tight! We're like this!" Castle crossed his fingers. "He'd never kick me out."

"It's funny you say that. I seem to recall that he's given you the boot before."

Castle was silent. "Well, those times, you got kicked out too," he muttered.

"Seriously. Just go get breakfast or something. Oh, and I like bear claws. So does Lanie." Beckett smirked, stood up, and left the break room.

Castle watched her leave, his subconscious amazed at how attractive she was even after a night in the precinct and his brain trying to snap him out of it. He imagined Ryan and Esposito there, saying, "Dude. Seriously?" Mentally, he shook his head, leaving the precinct in the opposite direction.

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It was later that same day, the day when Beckett managed to pull an overnighter at the precinct without getting embarrassed, the day when Castle woke up before the sun did, when Beckett got a phone call from Lanie.

"Girl, get down here. You need to see this," Lanie said urgently.

"Wait – what –" But Lanie had already hung up. Beckett sighed and turned to Castle. "Hey Castle . . . ready for a field trip to the morgue?"

Castle nodded excitedly, a kid at Christmas.

"Good. Lanie's got something for us," Beckett informed him briefly, then clicked off in her heels to the elevator. "Coming?"

Moments later, they were in the elevator, side by side, silent. Castle sighed happily. "I love these awkward elevator rides."

Beckett shot him a Look. "It wasn't awkward until you said that."

"YES! I made it awkward!" Castle pumped his fist. "Today's National Awkward Day," he added.

"You don't need a National Awkward Day," Beckett muttered. "You make my life awkward all by yourself."

Castle was probably about to make some witty comeback, but just then the elevator dinged, the doors opened, and Beckett walked through the door to the morgue.

"What's up, Lanie?" Castle asked, always friendly.

"What do you have for us?" Beckett asked, always all business.

"Oh, nothing much . . ." Lanie said casually in response to both questions. "I'm just chilling with this dead guy. He tells me he was killed _twice _though."

"What do you mean?" Castle and Beckett looked at each other.

"How can he have been killed twice?" Beckett asked, on her own this time.

Lanie shrugged. "Well, all I know is someone hit him in the head with a pepper shaker around five p.m. He died of blunt force trauma to the head. Your killer knew what he was doing. But then, _after he was dead, _at around seven, he was shot. 9mm to the chest and the face." She grimaced at the body lying on her examination table.

"So either there were two killers . . ." Beckett began thoughtfully.

"Or the first killer came back for more," finished Castle grimly.

**A/N: I'll try to get the next chapter up as soon as possible! And keep reading; it's going to have a major twist. Reviews are muchmuchmuch appreciated! Thanks for reading! :)**


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